Thunderbirds Series 1, Episode 3: Drone of Danger
by SatNavDan
Summary: A jungle village in Papua New Guinea is under threat from a massive fire that has been secretly started by The Hood who hopes it will attract International Rescue's attention. Thunderbirds 1 and 2 arrive and fight the fire along with the Fire-Fighting Vehicles. But as they start the journey back to Tracy Island, they are unaware that they are being tracked by mysterious drone.
1. Pre-Titles

Deep in the jungle of Papua New Guinea, the residents of a small traditional wooden-built village slept peacefully in their beds. It was as old-fashioned as it was possible to be. No street lights, no cars, not even a tarmac road leading into it. The residents didn't want to be a big part of the modern world so they travelled around either by foot or by horse and cart, sometimes even an ox.

For decades, this sleepy little village had been left in peace. No trouble from rival farmers or neighbouring villages of any kind. But on this particular night – that was about to change.

A lone bald-headed figure pushed his way through the bushes and trees that lined the small valley where the village was located and looked down at the houses below which were only just visible in the faint glow of the gas lamps. The figure was The Hood, and he wasn't there to buy some of the locally-grown products.

"Excellent," The Hood said out loud to himself. "This will do very nicely."

The communicator in The Hood's ear crackled. "Boss, it's done," said the voice of Transom. "The Eastern side of the valley is covered in oil."

"Well done, Transom," said The Hood. "Mullion?"

"All done, sir," Mullion answered. "Western side all covered. There's no way they'll be getting out of this."

"Good," said The Hood. "Get back to the Hubship and wait for me there."

The Hood then produced a long wooden stick with some oily rags wrapped around the end of it. Holding it firmly in his left hand, he took out a cigarette lighter and set the rags alight before throwing it down onto the ground in front of him. The flames caused a bush to go up in flames and thanks to the carefully laid oil trail along both sides of the valley, it spread out rapidly in both directions until it had surrounded the village.

Alerted by the night watchman, the villagers ran out of their houses to see the bright orange flames burning the bushes and the trees. There was no way they could get out. They were trapped.

Satisfied with his work, The Hood returned to his Hubship and rejoined Mullion and Transom. Once aboard, the ship lifted up off the ground before heading back towards their secret base in Malaysia. As they did so, they left behind a small black object with little rotor-blades and rocket engines.

"Do you think it'll work?" Transom asked.

The Hood chuckled. "Of course it will, Transom," he said with confidence. "They never fail to respond to those in distress."

* * *

Up in orbit, Thunderbird 5 was making one of its regular scans of the planet. Kaylee was sleeping whilst Becky and Katrina were having a rest in the lounge overlooking the Earth.

"It's so beautiful, isn't it?" Becky asked.

"All those billions of people down there," Katrina remarked. "Worrying about their jobs. Paying the bills. Cursing their next door neighbours' dog for barking all night. And yet here we are up here without any of those problems at all."

"Good jobs, good pay and no dogs," agreed Becky. "No dogs in space."

Katrina chuckled slightly. "There are cats on the Moon," she said.

Becky nearly spat her coffee out. "Say what?!" she exclaimed in astonishment.

"There are cats in Lunar-1," Katrina said.

"Shut up are you kidding me?!" said Becky wiping the coffee splashes off her uniform. "There can't surely be mice on the Moon?!"

Katrina laughed. "No, there aren't," she said. "But Commander Blake has cats. Three of them I believe. A male, a female and a young kitten."

Becky was at a complete loss for words. "Well…" she said once she'd found her voice. "Now I really have heard it all!"

Katrina just chuckled.

Kaylee wasn't having a good night. Normally sleeping was not a problem aboard Thunderbird 5, but tonight she was really struggling. She wasn't ill though, just having some bad memories flowing through her mind. She sat up, rubbed her eyes and pulled a photo out from her bedside table. It showed her with a blonde-haired woman and a dark-haired man. The man was wearing a military uniform.

Kaylee sniffed and a tear trickled down her cheek. "Miss you, Dad," was all she could say.

Kerry and Kelly were the only ones on duty at this moment in time. Kelly was monitoring radio frequencies and scanners when they detected something. "Kerry, I've got something," she said. "You need to see this."

"Where is it?" asked Kerry.

"Papua New Guinea," said Kelly. "Looks like a possible forest fire near one of the remote villages."

Kerry moved the holographic globe round so that she was looking at Papua New Guinea. She then activated the long-range satellite camera and gasped. It showed an aerial view of the valley with the village inside it along with the orange ring of fire that surrounded it.

"Oh, my God!" Kerry said. "This is serious. The nearest emergency services are miles away." She then pressed the IR symbol on her gold sash. "International Rescue, this is Thunderbird 5 – we have a situation!"

5! (DUN)

4! (DUN)

3! (DUN)

2! (DUN)

1! (RUMBLE)

*Thunderbirds theme plays*

"THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!"


	2. Act I

Daniel and the rest of the International Rescue team had been sleeping soundly when the alarm startled them all awake.

" _Red alert! Red alert! Red alert!_ " the computer voice shouted out.

Jodie was the first to reach the lounge with Karolina. Karolina pressed a button on the desk which opened what looked like a CD inserter but was in fact a hand-scanner for Jodie to use.

"Switching to command-and-control," Jodie said placing her hand over the scanner. This was what activated all the special computers that they used when International Rescue was in operation.

The alarm continued to sound as Daniel and Joanne hurried from their room. Laura, Katie, Adrienne, Beth, Wizzy, Leanna, Rosie, Cassidy and Sian also hurried out from their rooms and made their way down to the lounge as fast as they could.

"What have we got?" Daniel asked.

"Thunderbird 5 is calling," Jodie said. She pressed a button. "Go ahead, Kerry. Everyone's here."

"Sorry to wake up all but we have a situation," Kerry said. "We've detected a forest fire deep in the heart of Papua New Guinea."

"Are there any lives at stake?" asked Laura.

"Yes, Laura, I'm afraid there are," said Kerry gravely. "The fire has completely surrounded one of the remote villages and the residents are trapped inside."

"Wow!" Daniel said when Kerry showed them a satellite image. "That is one of the strangest fires I've ever seen."

"We'd better get out there, Dad," said Laura. "Those villagers might not have very long."

"Agreed," said Daniel. "Let's move."

"Not you two," Joanne said stopping Cassidy and Sian in their tracks. "You're staying here."

The team split up. Laura hurried over to the revolving wall panel that led to the revolving elevator that would take her down to Thunderbird 1. After having turned through the wall and standing on the elevator, robotic arms attached her uniform to her as it went down. At the same time, Katie, Rosie, Leanna, Wizzy, Beth and Adrienne hurried out of the lounge to make their way down to Thunderbird 2 whilst Daniel hurried over to the large rocket painting on the wall. He leant back against it and it began to tilt backwards sending him sliding down into a harness which took him down a long green tunnel. Robotic arms worked to attach his blue uniform with green utility sash as he went down. Once all that was complete, the rail his harness was on moved from the bottom side of the tunnel to the top side. Laura was now in her uniform and being carried out on a retractable walkway to Thunderbird 1. She sat down in the seat which was then moved inside before the hatchway sealed. The trolley that Thunderbird 1 stood on began to move taking Thunderbird 1 up the diagonal tunnel towards its launching bay under the swimming pool. Daniel then reached Thunderbird 2's silo and swung down through the hatch in the top before closing the hatch behind him. He hurried to his seat and sat down before selecting Pod 5. The pod conveyor activated moving Pods 1, 2, 3 and 4 underneath. Once Pod 5 was in position, the main body of Thunderbird 2 was lowered down onto it. Whilst all this had been going on, Katie, Wizzy, Leanna, Adrienne, Beth and Rosie had travelled down express elevators from the mansion to the silo and like Daniel had been changed into their uniforms on the way. They were now able to join Daniel in the cockpit and were ready to go. The rocks concealing the entrance to the hanger were lowered to allow Thunderbird 2 to taxi out onto the runway. As it came out, the palm trees were tilted back to allow it to pass. Up by the house, the swimming pool was opening up ready for Thunderbird 1 which was just coming into position on the launch pad. Thunderbird 2 was now on the launching ramp which lifted up into position. The wings folded out and the blast shield rose into place behind the rocket engines.

5…4…3…2…1!

The rocket engines of Thunderbird 1 fired and it lifted up off the launch ramp, though the gap where the swimming pool had been before climbing high into the night sky above Tracy Island. Thunderbird 2's own engines fired and it lifted up off the ramp to join its sister-ship.

"Thunderbirds are go!" said Daniel as the two machines headed northwest towards Papua New Guinea.

* * *

Sian and Cassidy stood by the window of the lounge and watched as the two Thunderbirds headed off into the distance. Being only part-time trainee members of the team meant that they weren't allowed out on night missions.

"Come on, you two," said Joanne. "Back to bed."

"Aww, Mum, do we have to?" complained Cassidy.

"Can't we stay up and listen to what's going on?" asked Sian.

"No, you need sleep if you're going to be training tomorrow with Karolina," said Joanne. "Now go on, shoo!"

Sian and Cassidy reluctantly left the lounge leaving Joanne with Karolina, Jodie and Zoë.

Jodie was looking at the satellite images of the fire. "This could be a long night," she said. "It won't be easy for them to tackle something like that in the dark.

Joanne yawned. "Why did this have to happen in the middle of the night?" she sighed rubbing her eyes.

"That's the joys of being a twenty-four hour rescue service," Karolina said. "We may not like it, but it is what we do."

Joanne knew Karolina was right, but deep down she still didn't enjoy these night calls. They happened far too often she though.

"I'll make us some coffee," said Zoë with a yawn. "At least it might keep us awake." She headed off to the kitchen.

"I'd better get my watch," Joanne said and she headed off too.

Karolina came and sat on the windowsill behind Jodie. "Those villages, aren't their houses made from wood?"

"Wood, mud and grass are the typical building materials for remote villages like this one," Jodie said. She was looking at an overview map of the village's layout. "That is odd - this village doesn't appear to have a name. I bet it probably does but just has a rather unpronounceable name."

Joanne entered her and Daniel's bedrooms and turned on the light. Her watch was on the bedside table. As she picked it up and placed it on her wrist, she looked at the bed, wishing she was still inside it. "Stop it!" she said to the bed as she put the duvet back over. "You're just tormenting me now, aren't you?" She made sure that her watch was set to the correct time before heading back out of the room.

Sian and Cassidy shared a bedroom on the opposite side of the grand staircase. Sian was dozing off but Cassidy was awake, still annoyed at not being allowed to head out with the others. She could hear footsteps on the stairs. She knew instantly that it was her mother because Jodie, Zoë and Karolina's bedrooms were the same side as theirs whilst Joanne and Daniel's plus the five Tracy sisters' rooms were the other side.

"Sian?" Cassidy whispered in a quiet voice once she felt confident that Joanne was out of shot. "Sian?"

Sian did not stir.

"Sian!"

Sian woke with a start. "Wha-what?!" she asked anxiously.

"Are you awake?" Cassidy asked.

Sian groaned and slumped back down on her pillow. "Well, not now I'm not!" she said sounding a bit annoyed. "What's the matter?"

"I can't sleep," Cassidy complained. "And I really don't want to be stuck in here doing nothing whilst the others are on a rescue mission. We should be out there with them."

Sian rubbed her eyes. "We've never done a night mission though," she said. "That's why we were told to stay here."

"So what?" asked Cassidy. "What exactly would we have done? Just sit in Thunderbird 2 and observe like we do with practically every mission. We wouldn't have been getting in anyone's way!"

A sudden snore told Cassidy that Sian had fallen asleep again. Cassidy picked up a pillow and was just about to throw it at her sister when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs again. This time, they were coming towards their room. Cassidy lay as still as possible hoping it was either Zoë or Karolina. She knew it couldn't be Jodie as she was at the control desk.

The footsteps stopped at the door and there came a soft knock-knock.

"Come in?" Cassidy asked.

Sian opened her eyes. "Cassidy, will you…"

The door opened. It was Joanne, and she didn't look very happy. "I thought I told you two to go back to sleep?" she said crossly.

"I'm trying to sleep, Mum," moaned Sian. "But Cassidy keeps disturbing me."

"I am not!" objected Cassidy.

"Enough, both of you!" Joanne barked. She left the door open to bring some light into the room as she came and sat down on Cassidy's bed. "Just close your eyes, and think of that mountain."

"Oh, Mum, please, we're not children!" groaned Cassidy.

"Shhhhhh," Joanne said softly. "Quiet now, my sweetie. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." She rolled her hand gently over Cassidy's head giving it a soothing massage. Sian already had her eyes closed and Cassidy's were now starting to as well. And then Joanne began to sing.

"A gentle breeze from Hushabye Mountain

Softly blows o'er Lullaby Bay.

It fills the sails of boats that are waiting

Waiting to sail your worries away."

Zoë, who had been passing between the kitchen and the lounge, could hear Joanne singing and chuckled. "Hey, can you hear her?" she called quietly to Jodie and Karolina.

"It isn't far to Hushabye Mountain

And your boat waits down by the quay.

The winds of night so softly are sighing.

Soon they will fly your troubles to sea."

Jodie grinned. "The others need to hear this," she said. She secretly hacked into Joanne's watch used the radio within it to broadcast out to the radios in Thunderbirds 1, 2 and 5. Daniel, Kerry, Rosie and the girls found themselves listening to Joanne's very soothing and enchanting voice singing her two daughters to sleep. Daniel was the only one out of them who'd heard Joanne sing before and he was grinning. The others had never heard her sing and they found themselves transfixed by what they were hearing."

"So close your eyes on Hushabye Mountain.

Wave goodbye to the cares of the day.

And watch your boat from Hushabye Mountain

Sail far away, to Lullaby Bay"

Joanne's plan had worked perfectly. Cassidy and Sian were both now sound asleep. Jodie quickly turned off the connection between Joanne's watch and the Thunderbirds so that she'd be none the wiser.

"Gosh!" exclaimed Beth when she'd found her voice. "That was incredible."

"We must get her to sing at our next music night," said Wizzy.

"She won't do that," Daniel said. "She'd be too shy."

"Have you heard her sing before?" asked Katie.

"Many times," Daniel said. "It works though. I've never heard the end of the song for I'm completely out by then." He grinned as he looked at everyone's else's astonished faces.

Joanne entered the lounge just as Zoë was heading back out to the kitchen. "You sure have a beautiful voice, hun," she complimented.

Joanne gulped, having not realised she'd been heard. "Thank you, Mrs Tracy," she replied. She was a bit taken aback, but deep down, she took the compliment very well.

* * *

Thunderbirds 1 and 2 were racing across the Pacific Ocean heading for Papua New Guinea. Daniel and the girls were taking the time to build-up their energy with Zoë's special strawberry milkshake. This would wake them up and give them the energy they would need for the mission ahead.

"You're right about that fire, Dad," said Adrienne. "Very unusual way for it to be burning."

"It's almost as though somebody's started it deliberately," agreed Wizzy.

"Why would anyone want to do that though?" asked Rosie. "I'm not aware of there being any hostilities in that area."

"It is a very secluded part of the world, Rosie," Daniel said. "There's probably a lot of things that go on that we don't know about."

"Rival village perhaps?" suggested Leanna.

"That would seem the most likely possibility," said Daniel. "There have been no storms in that area so lightning can't be the cause of it. I guess we'll find out once we've got it under control."

"Approaching Papua New Guinea, Thunderbird 2," Laura said over the radio. "E-T-A to danger zone – three minutes."

"Right behind you, Thunderbird 1," said Daniel. "Our E-T-A is five minutes."

Then Kerry appeared over the radio. "Thunderbirds 1 and 2, the fire appears to be spreading outwards rather than down into the valley. However, satellite imaging shows some trees that could fall down into the valley and set the buildings alight. If that happens, the villagers will have little chance of making it out alive."

"Understood," said Daniel.

"There's the coast," said Katie.

Looking out of the windows, they could just see the coastline of Papua New Guinea below them.

"We'll soon be there," said Daniel. "I'll take over, Katie. Who's taken what when we get there?"

Katie turned to address the others. "We have our three main fire-fighting machines down in the pod," she said. "It's best if we use all of them. Beth, you've got the Firefly; your task is to clear a path for the villagers to escape. Adrienne, you take the Fire Truck and start tackling the blaze on the Eastern side of the village. Wizzy, you take the Fire Tender and do the same with the Western side. Leanna, I want you to man the Retardant pumps. The machines only have a limited amount of water and foam aboard so we'd best tackle the worst of the flames to help them out. Everyone clear?"

"Yes, Katie," said Adrienne.

"Crystal," said Wizzy.

"Got it!" said Leanna.

"Let's just hope we're in time," said Beth.

* * *

The villagers were scared. Over thirty men, women and children had been gathered in the open square in the middle to keep them out of the buildings. Everyone looked to the chief in the hope of him having a solution, but even he didn't have anything.

All hope seemed lost until the sound of an approaching aircraft made them look up to see Thunderbird 1 coming into a hover above them.

Laura could see the villagers and decided to speak to them. She activated the PA system and activated the universal translator within. This allowed her to speak in her normal English but the villagers would hear her talking in their own native language. This device had proven rather useful in various countries where people didn't speak English.

" _Hello there, this is International Rescue. Please remain calm. We're going to tackle the blaze and clear a path for you to get out safely. There are rescue helicopters on the way to assist. Please remain where you are until instructed to do so. Thank you._ "

Thunderbird 2 then arrived on the scene, but already there was a problem. Daniel couldn't see anywhere for him to land where he could release the pod.

"Do we have any fire-retardant aboard?" Daniel asked.

"We've got some," said Leanna. "Not sure how good it is after that last forest fire we dealt with."

"That was four months ago," Daniel said. "I shouldn't think it would've gone off. Let's give it a go."

So Leanna moved the lever on her control panel. It released some red-coloured retardant from special tanks in the underside of the pod and covered a large area of ground underneath. Fortunately, it was still usable and the flames in that particular area were extinguished. Now Thunderbird 2 could land safely and release the pod.

Once the main body of Thunderbird 2 was clear, the door of Pod 5 opened to allow Beth, Adrienne and Wizzy to disembark in the Firefly, Fire Truck and Fire Tender respectively. The pod door then closed up again and the main body was lowered back down onto it. Now Thunderbird 2 could lift off again and head for the river to collect more water.

"Firefly to Thunderbird 2," said Beth from within the cockpit of the Firefly. "We're ready to go."

"F-A-B, Beth," Katie replied. "Be careful in there."

"And I'll keep a lookout for any potential hazards," Laura said from Thunderbird 1.

The three machines split up and headed off in different directions. Beth pushed forwards with the Firefly, spraying foam from the rear-mounted rotating cannon onto the flames and then pushing away the debris with the bulldozer blade. Wizzy headed round to the western side of the valley tackling the blaze as best she could with the Fire Tender whilst Adrienne did the same around the eastern side with the Fire Truck. It was a lot harder for them as their vehicles didn't have bulldozer blades attached to their fronts so they had to rely on the sheer power of the machines to push their way through the debris.

Suddenly, a gust of wind shook the burning trees. Some branches were shaken loose and they fell onto the village. Several villagers screamed and scattered as the bushes around the edge now started to burn as well.

From aboard Thunderbird 5, Kerry was watching the events unfold and she was getting anxious. "Hey guys, you need to hurry up!"


	3. Act II

Lady Penelope was having her elevenses in the drawing room of her mansion. It had been a quiet morning so far and she was feeling a little bored. However, there were going to be some coach parties that afternoon so she would have something to occupy herself with.

"Oh, dear," Penelope sighed to herself. "What a rather dull day this is turning out to be. I do wish I had something more exciting to do."

The sound of the telephone out in the hallway started ringing. Penelope waited to hear the sound of Parker answering it. But to her surprise, it was a woman's voice who answered it.

"Yes, just a moment, hang on, please."

There was a pause before a knock on the door.

"Come in," called Penelope.

The doors opened to reveal Mrs Fiona Appleby, the mansion's housekeeper. "Excuse me, m'lady," she said giving Penelope a curtsy. "There's a rather urgent call for you."

"Put it through on the phone in here," said Penelope.

Mrs Appleby nodded and turned to head back out to the phone in the hall.

"Oh, Mrs Appleby?"

"Yes, m'lady?"

"Have you seen Parker around?" asked Penelope.

Mrs Appleby shook her head. "I'm afraid I have not, m'lady," she said. "Maybe he's out in the garden with my husband."

Mr Ian Appleby was the groundskeeper for Creighton Manor.

"Hmm," said Penelope thoughtfully. "Thank you, Mrs Appleby. Put the call through please."

Mrs Appleby curtsied again and closed the doors. Penelope picked up the receiver of the phone in the drawing room and waited for Mrs Appleby to put the call through.

"Lady Penelope speaking."

"Lady Penelope, this is Agent Z speaking," said the male voice on the other end of the phone. "I have information regarding Operation Penguin."

Penelope's eyes widened. "Go ahead, Agent Z," she said sitting down in a chair. "What have you got for me?"

"Penguin is heading to Port of London from Norway aboard the cargo ship _The Final Offer_ ," Agent Z said. "Our contact in Bergen spotted him but was unable to alert the authorities in time."

"When's the ship due to arrive in London?" asked Penelope.

"07:00 hours tomorrow," said Agent Z. "According to its schedule, it is due to be staying there until 23:00 hours. Your best bet would be to investigate after dark but it won't give you much time."

"I'll have plenty of time," said Penelope. "Thank you, Agent Z."

"My pleasure," Agent Z replied. "Oh, one more thing – _The Final Offer_ is due to pass Flamborough Head, Yorkshire at around 21:00 hours this evening if you wish to grab and look."

Penelope looked at her watch. "21:00, got it," she said. "Thank you again." She put the receiver down and picked up her diary before checking her watch again. "The coach visit is due to end at 16:30 hours," she told herself. "That should give us enough time to get there. Now, if only I knew where Parker was."

What Penelope didn't know was that Parker wasn't doing his usual duties. He was in his bedroom having some private time with Annette Éclair. They had a very strong romance between them which was also very private and they wanted it to stay that way. Parker was afraid of what Penelope would do if she found out about it.

"More?" Parker said as the bed shuffled about.

"Oh, yes, more!" Annette said who was thoroughly loving the experience.

Just then Parker heard the bell ringing. "Oh, blast!" he groaned. "That means 'er Ladyship is h'in need h'of me."

"Can't she wait for a bit, Aloysius?" asked Annette. "Come on now. Just another five minutes? Please, please, please?"

Parker paused, then smiled. "H'okay, but h'only five minutes," he said.

* * *

Thunderbird 2 had reached the river near the village. It was a rather twisty river but it was just wide enough for it to swoop down and drop its scoops to collect more water. They had to make two runs in total before the tanks were full and they could return to the scene to tackle the fire.

The villagers were getting tense, they could see the spray from the Fire Truck and Fire Tender putting out the flames closest to the edge of the valley, but the Firefly was having trouble trying to break through some fallen trees.

"This is taking too long," Beth said. "I might have to use the cannon."

"Be careful, Firefly," Katie said over the radio. "The explosions could send some of the burning debris down into the village."

"I know," said Beth. She backed the Firefly away from the fallen trees and activated the nitro-glycerine shell cannon mounted in the nose. "Here goes," she said. The cannon fired a shell and the explosion broke up the trunks. Luckily, no debris landed in the village although the residents were startled by the explosion.

"Try not to do that again, Beth," said Laura, who was watching the operation from Thunderbird 1. "I don't think they liked that."

"Tough luck, Laura," replied Beth. "I'm no use to them if I can't get through."

"She's right, Laura," agreed Daniel. "It's a risk she's got to take. How we doing, Leanna?"

"Tanks are full and ready to commence dropping when you're ready," Leanna replied.

"F-A-B," said Daniel. "Adrienne, hope you've got an umbrella. We're about to start our retardant run."

"Go ahead, Dad," Adrienne replied. "I'm afraid to say that my progress is very slow at the moment."

"Same story on this side too," added Wizzy. "Fire Tender's really struggling to get through these trees. I can't imagine the environmentalists are going to be very happy with us."

"The trees are already beyond saving, Wizzy," Daniel remarked. "There's no point in worrying about it."

"Ready, Daniel," said Leanna.

"Okay, here we go," said Daniel. He turned Thunderbird 2 around and began making a bombing run towards the flames. Once in position, Leanna moved a lever and the freshly-made retardant dropped out. They were very effective and they were able to kill the entire outer section of the ring of fire in one sweep. This didn't however give them enough water to make another full sweep so they did a half circle on the eastern side instead. This left just the western side mostly burning now.

"Dad, shouldn't you be focusing on the flames at the edge of the valley?" asked Laura. "After all, that's where the main danger is."

"I don't want to cause any problems for the girls," said Daniel. "They've got enough to contend with as it is at the moment. Going back for more water."

As Thunderbird 2 headed off, the Firefly finally made it to the edge of the valley. "I'm through!" Beth said. "Now they have a clear path."

"Can you get rid of those flames first, Beth?" said Laura. "I don't think they'll be very safe until those are extinguished."

"I'll lead them out and spray the flames as I go," said Beth. "Tell them to head towards me."

Laura turned on the speaker again. " _Attention, please! Attention, please! We have a clear path for you to get out. Please head to the southern end of the village and follow the yellow bulldozer. It'll lead you to a safe clearing where rescue teams can collect you. Quickly, but calmly now. Thank you._ "

The villagers did as they were told and started heading towards the south side of the village where the Firefly was heading down to meet them. The men formed a ring around the women and children to protect them.

Then there was trouble. As Wizzy pushed the Fire Tender forwards, she noticed a burning tree starting to topple over towards the valley. "Oh, no – guys, there's a tree falling!" she cried.

Laura looked round just in time to see the tree fall into the valley. It set the bushes alight and seconds later, one of the houses began to burn as well. The villagers began to panic and hurried towards the cleared path.

"Damn it!" said Laura. "I was afraid that something like that might happen."

"Now what?" asked Beth. "The villagers are panicking."

"We have to contain that fire, before it spreads any further," said Laura. "But Thunderbird 2's still at the river. Beth, you're going to have to do it."

"But what about the villagers?" Beth asked anxiously. "I'm supposed to be leading them out."

"Adie, can you take over guiding the villagers to safety?" asked Laura. "I'm going to need Beth to put out the fire down here."

"F-A-B, Laura," said Adrienne. She cut the spray from the Fire Truck and reversed back to the dirt roadway where they'd first started from. She soon found the villagers and began to lead them along it to safety. As they went, she used the rotating cannon to spray onto any nearby flames to put them out.

Once all the villagers were out of the way, Beth moved the Firefly down to the burning house. The fire was getting dangerously close to the neighbouring houses so it was imperative that it was dealt with.

"That tree appeared to have got wedged onto something," Beth said. "But it looks like it might fall down. Thunderbird 1, can you remove it?"

"Yes, I can, Firefly," replied Laura. "We can't have it falling any further. You get tackling the blaze."

"F-A-B," said Beth. She brought the Firefly to a stop and began to spray foam onto the house.

Laura brought Thunderbird 1 over the fallen tree and opened the large hatch doors before firing the grappling cable down onto the trunk. It was heavy, but she managed to lift it up off the ground and then hold it above the burning house so that Beth could then spray it with the Firefly. This would then allow her to drop it in a ditch by the side of the village where it couldn't set anything else alight.

* * *

With the tree dealt with, it didn't take Beth long to extinguish the flames on the roof of the house. "Phew, it's done," she said to Laura. "I'm going to go and help Adie with the villa…"

"Beth, get out of there now!" Laura shouted suddenly. "That house is about to collapse!"

Beth gasped and quickly drove Firefly backwards just as the house suddenly collapsed. In her haste, she accidentally reversed into the house behind her demolishing part of the wall.

"Did…I just hit something?" Beth asked.

At that very moment, Thunderbird 2 returned from the river.

"Yes, you did," answered Katie. "Another house."

"You've knocked part of the wall down," added Daniel.

Beth's face went as red as her sash. "They're going to bill us for that, aren't they?" she groaned.

"You'd better clear the remains of the fully collapsed house out of the way first," said Daniel. "Then you can go help your sister."

"Ready to commence dropping," Leanna said to Daniel.

"Wizzy, you'd better clear out," Daniel said. "We can take care of the rest of the blaze."

"Understood, Dad," said Wizzy. "Moving out, now."

Daniel and Katie waited until Wizzy was safely away from the flames before making their run. Leanna moved the lever and the retardant began to drop onto the flames. It took all they had, but once the last of the retardant was used, the fire was out. The village was safe.

* * *

Tiredness had caught up with Joanne, but she did not want to return to bed whilst Daniel was out, so instead she found herself sleeping on the large sofa having been given a large blanket by Zoë. Jodie and Karolina did not seem tired at all, probably because Jodie was fully concentrating on giving technical support to the others in the field whilst Karolina was watching out of the windows. As she watched, the night sky was starting to get lighter. The sun was beginning to rise bringing in the dawn of yet another day.

Karolina glanced at her watch. "05:00," she said. "I'd better go start my patrol."

"I've had MAX prepare Thunderbird 7 for you, Karolina," Jodie replied. "She's all ready for when you are."

"Thank you, Jodie," Karolina said.

Zoë then came over. "Make sure you've had plenty to eat before you head out," she said to Karolina passing a small tray with a glass of orange juice, a small plate of toast and a bowl of fruit on it.

"Thank you, Mrs Tracy," said Karolina, taking the tray. She sat on the windowsill as she ate the toast and the fruit in the bowl before drinking the orange juice down in one.

"How you do that, I'll never know, Karolina," Jodie remarked.

"Do what?" Karolina asked.

"That's a big glass and yet you managed to drink it all in one go," Jodie said.

Karolina looked at the glass. "It's smaller than what I'm used to," she replied as she stood up from the windowsill. "I take this back to kitchen and then I'll be on my way," she said.

"Have fun," Jodie said as Karolina left the room.

After returning the tray to the kitchen and putting the items in the sink, Karolina went for a quick wash before heading down to the subbasement. She had her own little cloakroom where her uniform and motorbike which was also the cockpit of Thunderbird 7 were kept. After putting on her uniform, big black boots and her helmet, Karolina climbed into the motorbike cockpit. The little elevator that it was mounted on then lifted her up through the floor into the silo where Thunderbird 7 was housed. Looking across to her right, Karolina saw the vast red shape that was Thunderbird 3 in its launching tunnel whilst further round was the empty space where Thunderbird 1 normally was. Now that the motorbike cockpit was locked into the main body of Thunderbird 7, the craft was moved backwards along its yellow circular launching pad along some rails. The tunnel tilted from horizontal to vertical taking Thunderbird 7 up backwards. Once it reached the correct position it came to a stop before the section of rock that it was on turned round so that now it was outside. The yellow pad then turned the craft 180-degrees clockwise so that it was now pointing upwards.

5…4…3…2…1!

The rocket engines of Thunderbird 7 ignited and the clamp that held it onto the pad was released. It dropped backwards remaining at its vertical position until it had passed safely over the mansion before spinning round into a horizontal position before rocketing away from the island.

"Thunderbird 7 is go!" Karolina reported over the radio. "Commencing patrol."

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 7," Jodie acknowledged over the radio.

Joanne was awoken by the sound of engines roaring. She stirred and sat herself up. "Has something just launched or are they back?" she asked sleepily.

"Thunderbird 7's just launched," Jodie said. "The others won't be back for a while."

Joanne let out a soft moan and went back to sleep again.

Zoë returned to give Jodie another cup of coffee. "Poor dear," she said looking over at Joanne. "I don't understand why she gets up when the alarm goes off. She doesn't go out with the others."

"You don't have to get up, Mrs Tracy, but you always do," Jodie pointed out.

"That is true, my dear," Zoë admitted. "I guess I feel that I'm doing my bit by keeping those involved here properly fed and watered."

Jodie sipped her coffee. "There is that, I suppose," she said.

* * *

It wasn't just Joanne who'd been awoken by the sound of engines. Sian had as well. She moved the curtains a little bit so she could look aside. The sudden change in light then woke Cassidy.

"Sian, what are you doing?" Cassidy asked whilst letting out a massive yawn.

"I heard something," Sian replied. "Sounded like aircraft engines. Something must've launched."

"Or landed?" Cassidy asked. "Maybe Daniel and the girls are back?"

But Sian shook her head. "No, it was definitely leaving the island," she said. "Must've been Karolina going off on patrol."

Cassidy groaned and looked at the time. "God, it's only quarter-to-six!" she said. "Why does she have to go out this early?"

"Her craft, her patrol I guess," said Sian as she got back into bed. "No matter what time of the day it is, Karolina never seems to be tired. I don't know how she does it."

"I don't know how any of them manage," agreed Cassidy. "But I guess once our training is completed then we'll need to get used to uneven sleeping hours."

They said no more on the matter. Both were still very tired and it wasn't even a full minute before they were fast asleep again.

* * *

Parker brushed down his butler's outfit before knocking on the door of the drawing room.

"Come in," Penelope called from the inside.

Parker gulped. She sounded rather annoyed. "You rang, m'lady?"

"Parker, where on earth have you been?" asked Penelope. "You've never taken this long before. Mrs Appleby had to answer the phone."

"Sorry, m'lady," said Parker. "Nature called, I'm h'afraid."

Penelope frowned slightly, but decided it wasn't worth pursuing the matter. "Never mind, Parker," she said. "I just thought you should know that I want the car to be ready for me once the coaches have left this afternoon."

"Er, yes, m'lady," said Parker. "May I h'ask what the reason is?"

"Later, Parker," said Penelope, checking her watch. "The two coaches will be arriving in ten minutes. Please go make yourself useful."

"Very well, m'lady," said Parker. "I'll 'ave FAB1 ready for you." He closed the doors and then sighed. "Typical. Just when I was getting ready for a peaceful h'afternoon," he said to himself.

Penelope was still puzzled by Parker's delayed arrival, but now wasn't the time to investigate. The phone buzzed so she went to answer it. "Yes?"

It was Peter Griffiths – the gatekeeper. "Your Ladyship, the coaches have arrived," Griffiths said.

"Good, let them in, Peter," said Penelope. "Thank you." She put the phone down and headed out to the front of the house in readiness for her guests. At least having them around would take her mind off things for a while.

Meg the Border-Collie had been sleeping on one of the steps outside the mansion. An ear lifted up at the sound of approaching large vehicles. She opened her eyes and lifted her head to see two large blue coaches driving towards the mansion. Then the doors opened and Penelope stepped out. Sherbet the Pug came out at her feet. Meg then got up and walked down as well to greet the guests.

As the coaches got closer, Sherbet began to yap and growl. He didn't take kindly to guests. Then he scurried up to the coach and began scratching at the door.

"Sherbet, shush!" Penelope hissed. "Meg, remove."

Meg walked over to Sherbet and let out one loud WOOF which made Sherbet cower. Then he trotted away with Meg following to keep him in check, much to the amusement of the guests on the coaches.

* * *

When morning came, Rosie could set to work to try and determine the cause of the fire. As the others had said, it didn't appear to be a natural fire. A few experiments in the laboratory in Pod 5 soon provided Rosie with the answer.

"There are strong traces of petrol," Rosie told Daniel and the girls. "Looks like you were right then, Mr Tracy. This fire was indeed deliberate."

The Tracy's and Leanna were bewildered.

"But that begs the question, who could've started it?" asked Wizzy.

"It could've been anyone," sighed Rosie. "No traces of fingerprints or the actual starter. Whoever did it will be long gone by now."

"I'll have the crew of Thunderbird 5 keep a watchful eye on this area just in case something like this happens again," said Daniel.

"Agreed," said Rosie. "Not much else we can do now, I'm afraid."

Daniel nodded. "Pack up, girls. Our job here is done."

Having made sure, the villagers were in the care of the emergency services, Beth, Adrienne and Wizzy loaded the Firefly, Fire Truck and Fire Tender back into Pod 5 and the main body of Thunderbird 2 was lowered back down onto it.

With all their equipment safely reloaded, Thunderbirds 1 and 2 lifted off from the clearing that they'd been able to land in and headed off.

"This is Thunderbird 2," Daniel said. "Mission complete. We're on our way home."

"F-A-B," said Kerry. "Good work, guys."

* * *

As the Thunderbirds headed back towards the coast, they passed the same clearing that The Hood's Hubship had been. None of them noticed the strange black object that was still parked there. It had been stationary up until this point, but as the Thunderbirds passed, its rotors suddenly powered up and it lifted up off the ground before activating its rocket engines and heading off after them – and the crews had absolutely no idea that it was there.

Inside his temple, The Hood had been waiting for news of his device making a move. "Perfect!" he said to Mullion and Transom. "My drone has locked onto Thunderbird 2's heat signature. It will follow them right back to their base, and then we can follow it there. International Rescue's headquarters will no longer be a secret to us or the world. We will have them at our mercy!" He then broke out into a powerful laugh which made Mullion and Transom feel very uneasy.

"Let's just hope they won't discover it," said Transom.

"They won't discover it, my dear, Transom," said The Hood with confidence. "You really do worry too much. Now, let's have some breakfast, shall we?"

"Er, boss, shouldn't someone stay and monitor the drone?" asked Mullion.

"No, Mullion," said The Hood. "It'll still be there when we finish, now come along."

So Transom and Mullion followed The Hood out of the room and back to the main chamber where they could have breakfast at the temple's big banqueting table. The Hood had so much confidence in his drone that he was even entrusting it to do its work without supervision. Somehow, Mullion and Transom were feeling that this wasn't going to end well.

* * *

Thunderbirds 1 and 2 continued to make their way across the Pacific Ocean at cruising speed towards Tracy Island, completely oblivious that they were being followed. The Hood's drone had been built with stolen technology from various military forces. It was designed to be stealthy so that no form of radar could detect it – and so far, it was working perfectly.

"Jo, I hope you and Mum have got breakfast on, we're starving," Daniel said.

"Don't worry, hun, it'll be ready for you when you get here," said Joanne. "By the way, Cassidy and Sian will want to know all that's happened on your mission."

"Guessing you sent them back to bed after we'd left?" chuckled Daniel.

Joanne nodded. "You lot might be able to work at all hours, but they aren't able to yet," she said.

"They're lucky to be able to go back to bed," Wizzy remarked. "I wish I could right now."

"Agreed," said Leanna. "I could sleep for a week!"

"Now, now, girls, it's what we do," Daniel said. "Approaching the 100-mile perimeter now. How's the radar looking?"

"Radar shows clear," said Katie.

"I second that," said Laura from Thunderbird 1. "There's some ships off our starboard quarter but they are heading North-East so they won't pose any danger."

"Providing they're not warships," murmured Adrienne to herself.

"The island's radar shows no unidentified contacts either," said Jodie. "You are clear to enter our airspace."

"F-A-B," said Daniel. "How's it looking from Thunderbird 5?"

"Area looks clear," said Kerry, checking the radar scope aboard the space-station. "You're all clear to…" She broke off suddenly and frowned for she'd noticed something unusual on the screen. "What in the world…?!"

"Kerry, what is it?" Daniel asked. "Is there something wrong."

"Are you bringing a souvenir back?" asked Kerry.

Daniel and the girls exchanged puzzled looks. "No, why?" asked Daniel.

"Well my screen says there's something following you," said Kerry.

"What sort of something?" asked Katie.

"Can't tell for sure," Kerry replied. "It's about 1,000 yards behind Thunderbird 2."

Daniel and Laura both turned on their rear-view cameras. Everyone blinked in surprise. Kerry was right. There was a strange object following them.

"What the hell is that?" asked Beth.

"Is that a missile?" Rosie exclaimed.

"No, it's the wrong shape for that," said Daniel. He zoomed the camera in and could now see it more clearly. "It looks like a drone of some sort," he said.

"You both need to change your courses," Jodie said urgently over the radio. "It's probably locked on to one of your heat signatures."

Thunderbird 1 took a sharp turn to the right whilst at the same time Thunderbird 2 took a sharp turn to the left. They watched and waited to see what would happen next.

"It's locked onto us!" Katie said as the drone turned after Thunderbird 2.

"Where could it have come from?" asked Wizzy.

"The Hood I reckon!" said Beth. "He could've sent it out whilst we tackling the fire.

The others looked at her. "Seriously, Beth?" asked Adrienne. "You can't be saying that The Hood started that fire just so he could send a drone after us? That's just ludicrous!"

"We can worry about that later," said Daniel. "Right now, we need to get it off our tails. Hang on, this could get a little rough!"

Daniel began making some sharp manoeuvres with Thunderbird 2, but making sure he stayed away from the exclusion zone around Tracy Island. He tried sharp turns, changes of altitude and even managed to off a Crazy-Ivan at one stage, but nothing seemed to work. The drone kept following them.

"Can't we just destroy it?" asked Leanna.

"We wouldn't find out who sent it then if we did that!" Katie said.

"Who cares who sent it!" snapped Wizzy. "I'm starting to feel dizzy."

"So am I," agreed Rosie.

"Girls, quiet please!" Daniel barked. "Jodie, have you got any ideas?"

"Afraid not, Mr Tracy," said Jodie. "As it's not registering on our radar, I'm unable to hack into it to even search for a possible weakness."

"But it is registering on Thunderbird 5's radar," said Daniel. "Kerry, do you think you'd be able to try and disable it?"

"I'll have a damn good try," said Kerry determinedly. "But I think Leanna has a point. Maybe you should be ready to destroy it just in case I can't do anything."

Daniel glanced at the fuel gauge. "We can only keep this up for so long," he said. "We'll have to return to base for fuel."

"I'll try and destroy it," said Laura. She brought Thunderbird 1 in close to the drone and activated the machine-cannon located under the nose-cone. But to Laura's surprise, a large bubble appeared around the drone as the rounds from the cannon got close to it. "You've got to be kidding me!" Laura exclaimed. "That thing's got a force-field around it!"

"Maybe you just don't have powerful enough weaponry to penetrate through the force-field," said Jodie. "But Thunderbird 7 has. Karolina, do you read me?"

Karolina had been patrolling outside the exclusion zone. "Loud and clear. What's up?"

"We got a drone pursuing Thunderbird 2," Jodie explained. "Thunderbird 1's made an unsuccessful attempt to destroy it. Can you assist?"

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 5, I'm on it," said Karolina. She turned her craft around and raced off. "Hang on, Thunderbirds 1 and 2 - I'm coming!" she said.


	4. Act III

FAB1 pulled out of the driveway of the estate and turned left towards the village of Creighton. Penelope was quite glad that the coach parties had now gone.

"So where to, m'lady?" asked Parker, who still was unaware of what the purpose of their outing was.

"Flamborough Head, please, Parker," said Penelope. "I've had word from my contact about Operation Penguin."

"The Penguin, did you say, m'lady?" said Parker. "That wouldn't be that h'old geezer h'Oswold Cobblepot by h'any chance, would it?"

"The very one, Parker," said Penelope. "Agent Z said his ship has left Bergen and will be sailing down the coast tonight before arriving at Tilbury docks tomorrow."

"If h'I know old Cobblepot, 'e's probably trying to smuggle weapons h'into the country," said Parker.

"That is correct," said Penelope. "His ship should be passing Flamborough Head at about 21:00 hours. So please step on it."

"Yus, m'lady," said Parker. "Shall I h'engage flight-mode?"

"Not yet," said Penelope. "Wait until we've passed through the village."

FAB1 drove through the village and came up to the school. A bus was there waiting to take the after-school club pupils home. As they approached, they saw a boy standing on the left side of the road. He was waving his arms like a chicken. On the right side of the road where the school was, another group of boys appeared to be shouting abuse at him.

"Looks like Master Morris is h'up to 'is h'old tricks h'again," said Parker.

Penelope sighed. "Approach with extreme caution, Parker," said Penelope. "I have a rather bad feeling I know what's about to happen."

Dean Morris was well known around the village of Creighton and not for the right reasons. He was a trouble-maker and bully in Year 6. Whenever he was in school, he was picking on the younger kids. When he wasn't in school, he and his mates would go round terrorising the old people who lived there by shouting or throwing objects through their windows. In fact, there wasn't a building in the village that didn't have a broken window at some point.

On this day, Morris was picking on Charlie Sheen – a Year 5 pupil. He was normally one of the best behaved pupils at the school, but today he was trying his luck by making chicken impressions at Morris from the opposite side of the road. This was making Morris very angry.

"You do that again, Sheen and I'll knock your teeth out!" Morris shouted.

Sheen just laughed and continued to flap his arms. Morris had had enough. He ran out into the road, just as FAB1 appeared in his path. Morris collided heavily with the side of the car and fell backwards onto the road much to the horror of the other pupils and teachers.

Parker stopped FAB1 and got out. He pulled Morris to his feet but didn't ask him if he was hurt.

Morris wasn't hurt, but he gave Parker a real look of disgust. "The hell are you doing, idiot – YOU COULD'VE KILLED ME!"

"Why don't you pick h'on someone your h'own size, boy?" Parker retorted.

"With pleasure!" growled Morris swinging his right arm at Parker. Parker caught Morris's fist in his hand and twisted his arm around. "AAARRGGHHH!" he yelled. "YOU'RE HURTING ME!"

"PARKER, ENOUGH!" shouted Penelope.

Parker let go of Morris who staggered whimpering back to the bus. He then got back into FAB1 and drove off again. "Sorry, m'lady," Parker said. "I shouldn't have done that."

"Damn right, you shouldn't have," Penelope scolded. But then she took him by surprise. "Well done," she said.

Parker blinked in astonishment. "Beg pardon, m'lady?" he asked after a few moments. "I thought you was mad at me?"

Penelope smiled. "That boy deserved what he got, but we must be ready to face the music. I doubt young Morris or his father are going to let us hear the end of it." She paused whilst she checked her watch. "We're a little behind time, Parker. You know what to do?"

"Certainly, m'lady," said Parker. He flipped a switch on the dashboard on the right of the steering wheel. Wings appeared from underneath FAB1. The radiator grill changed position and the wheel hubs turned into jet -engines as it lifted up off the road and became an aircraft. "FAB1 is h'off!" said Parker as they zoomed high across the countryside..

* * *

Thunderbird 7 soon found Thunderbirds 1 and 2 with the drone following closely behind Thunderbird 2. Daniel had tried all sorts of different moves that Thunderbird 2 was capable of, but nothing had worked. He and the others were getting rather annoyed by it.

"This is getting us nowhere, guys," Daniel said. "We're going to have to turn back for base in the next ten minutes. Jodie, Kerry – you got anything?"

"I've got in," said Kerry. "It appears to be a custom-made drone using parts from various other drones from different military forces."

"I knew it!" said Beth. "The Hood must've stolen the different parts from various military forces to make it."

"Beth, we don't have any proof that it was him," said Katie. "He's not the only bad guy on this planet, remember?"

"I'm here, Thunderbird 2," said Karolina. "Let me take a shot at this thing."

"Karolina, are we glad to see you!" Daniel said. "Try not hit us in the process please."

Karolina used her targeting computer to lock onto the drone. She had already been told of the forcefield by Laura but felt confident her craft's weapons would have a better chance than Thunderbird 1 had. "Got it! Target is locked," she said. "Firing in three…two…one!"

The missile shot out from Thunderbird 7. Thunderbird 2 remained a straight course so that the drone would do the same. As the missile got close, there was an explosion and the drone disappeared from view.

"Yes!" said Laura with delight. "You did it, Karolina!"

Cassidy, Joanne, Zoë, Sian and Jodie all breathed sighs of relief, but Daniel soon shattered it again. "Negative, it's still with us," Daniel said. "That force-field is stronger than we thought."

Karolina couldn't understand. "But my weapons have never failed to destroy their target!" she cried.

Looking in the camera, Katie had noticed something. "You did manage one thing, Karolina," she said. "I think the blast must've shaken it. It's not as close to us as it was before."

"Mr Tracy, I've just had an idea," Jodie interrupted. "The drone will either be tracking you via remote cameras or your heat signature. If you could somehow obscure its vision and cut your engines at the same time, it might lose its lock on you and then you can escape from it."

Daniel bit his lip and looked over at the fuel gauge before then checking the altimeter. "Negative, Jodie. We're too low on fuel and in altitude," he said. "We may end up in the drink if we try that."

"The drink?" Cassidy asked, confused.

"He means landing in the sea," Sian said.

Everyone fell quiet, trying to think of another option.

"This is just like that blasted EagleClaw incident all over again," grumbled Katie.

Daniel looked at Katie sharply. A thought had just struck him. "That's it!" he exclaimed. "Kerry, are there any schematics saying how high the drone can go?"

"Not that I can see, why?" asked Kerry.

Daniel looked up into the sky. "Girls, hang on tight," he said. "Thunderbirds 1 and 7, you remain down here. I'm going to try something. Full power!"

Thunderbird 2 accelerated rapidly forwards and then pulled up into a steep climb racing towards the upper atmosphere.

"Daniel, what are you doing?!" exclaimed Kerry. "You can't pull off that trick again! You haven't got enough fuel!"

"She's right, Beth and Adie are with you, Daniel!" cried Joanne over the radio. "They won't be able to get Thunderbird 3 up to you!"

Daniel paid no attention. It was now that the others realised what he was doing. over a year before, a USAF fighter-bomber called the 'EagleClaw' had managed to evade International Rescue's radar and had chased after Thunderbird 2. The only way that they'd been able to escape was by flying into space, but in doing so had used up all their fuel. The only way they'd been able to return was by having Thunderbird 3 fly up and transfer fuel over to them.

On Thunderbird 5, Becky and Katrina entered the control room. They had been off duty but had heard that there was something going on and had come to investigate.

"What's going on?" Katrina asked.

"Trouble," said Kelly. "Big trouble."

"Thunderbird 2 is being pursued by a drone," Kaylee explained. "Mr Tracy's trying something to shake it off."

"Dad, you've got to turn back!" they heard Katie shout over the radio. "We're not going to make it!"

"Daniel, please!" Kerry begged.

"ENOUGH!" Daniel thundered loudly making everyone jump. He was watching the video screen. The drone was still following them.

They were now in the stratosphere and almost at the edge of space. But then, Daniel saw that the drone was beginning to get further away from them. He then saw it beginning to freeze over due to the cold air at this high altitude. Seconds later, he saw it start to fall away from them back down towards the Earth. He then cut the engines of Thunderbird 2. It seemed to stall before turning back around and heading back down as well.

"My God, they've stalled!" cried Zoë.

"Negative, Mrs Tracy," Jodie said suddenly. "He just cut the engines. He's saving fuel by gliding back down."

"But what about the drone?" asked Sian.

Kerry looked at the screen. She could hardly believe what she was seeing. "It's in front of them!" she gasped. "Daniel took it to a height it could operate at. It's no longer locked on to Thunderbird 2."

"And now it's a simple matter of destroying it when it comes back down," said Laura.

"You see," said Daniel. "I knew that would work."

The others girls breathed a sigh of relief. "Dad, please don't scare us like that again!" gasped Wizzy.

"I agree," said Adrienne.

"Blame your sister," said Daniel indicating Katie. "It was her that gave me the idea."

Katie was embarrassed but she knew Daniel was right. "Me and my bloody mouth," she murmured to herself.

"It's all yours, Thunderbirds 1, 5 and 7," Daniel went on. "We're getting out of here in case it recovers. Good luck."

Thunderbird 2's engines re-ignited and turned sharply away from the falling drone.

"Will we make it?" Katie asked Daniel.

Daniel checked the gauge. "We got fifteen minutes of fuel left," he said. "Our ETA to base is, nine minutes."

"Just about," said Katie. "You want me to take over?"

"Yes, if you would, please," Daniel said. "You're better at fuel consumption than I am."

At least that brought a smile to the others' faces.

* * *

Thunderbirds 1 and 7 were flying in formation waiting for the drone to come to them whilst up in Thunderbird 5, Kerry was still trying to find a way to shut the drone down but getting through its systems wasn't easy.

"What exactly are you looking for?" asked Becky.

"Clues," Kerry replied. "Anything that might be able to tell us where it came from, who sent it, and most importantly, to destroy it if we can."

"I see it!" Laura said suddenly. "Shouldn't we just let it fall into the sea?"

"There's still a slim chance that it might reboot itself," Jodie said. "There are some drone designs that have the ability to do that."

"Then let's not take any chances," said Karolina. "I'm going in."

Laura watched as Thunderbird 7 moved in closer to the falling drone. Karolina used the targeting computer to get a second lock onto it and then fired the missile. There was an explosion, but this time, Laura knew not to cheer until there was proof of success.

"Did you get it?" asked Jodie.

Karolina and Laura waited. But to their dismay, the smoke cleared to reveal the drone now hovering and looking for a new target as it had lost Thunderbird 2.

"Damn it!" Karolina and Laura said together.

"It's rebooted?" sighed Jodie. "I feared as much."

The drone turned and began to approach Thunderbird 7 which happened to be the closest to it. Its rockets then fired and it began to chase after it.

"It's locked onto me!" cried Karolina. "Thunderbird 1, can you get it off!"

Laura gritted her teeth. She moved in and began firing Thunderbird 1's machine-cannon again. She knew that this was a pointless thing to do as the force-field was still active.

"Laura, you're just wasting your ammo," Jodie said. "You need to stop."

"Well what else can we do then, Jodie?" asked Laura in annoyance. "Maybe I could get it locked onto me?"

"Negative," said Jodie. "You're too fast for it. You'd get so far away that it would lose contact with you."

"That might not be such a bad thing," Laura decided and began to move in closer. Her intention was to fly through the gap between Thunderbird 7 and the drone. "Here goes," she said and got ready to increase power.

"Laura, stop!" shouted Karolina. "You're getting too close to me!"

"The thrust from Thunderbird 7's engines could push you away and into the drone!" Jodie added. "Some drones are programed to explode if they are touched."

Laura sighed heavily and turned Thunderbird 1 away. "Well, what else can we do?" she asked as she followed Thunderbird 7 which was making even more violent manoeuvres than Thunderbird 2 was able to do. Incredibly, the drone was still able to keep up with her.

"Guys, I may have something," said Kerry. "I've found what looks to be a password into something. I'm not sure what but it could be important."

"What's it showing you?" asked Jodie.

"Not very much to be honest, Jodie," Kerry replied. "I've got a group of numbers with some boxes underneath which is probably where the answer goes. It's strange though. There are six numbers and only four boxes."

"What are the numbers?" asked Jodie.

"Eight, one, five, one, five and four," said Kerry. "Any thoughts?"

"It must be a puzzle of some kind," said Jodie. "You have to guess the right combination from four of those numbers."

"But that could be any of them," said Kerry. "Finding the right ones would be luck and nothing else. Laura and Karolina can't keep going on the way they are or they will run low on fuel as well."

"Then we'd best get started," Kaylee said. "What's the initial set of numbers, do you think?"

"Let's try the simple option first," said Kerry. "8-1-5-4." She then pressed the 'Enter' button on the screen beside the boxes. It buzzed with a red light. "Negative," she said. "8-1-5-1." The same thing happened.

* * *

The Hood, Mullion and Transom were still eating their breakfast. The Hood was still feeling very cheerful, but he could tell that his two hench-people weren't.

"What is wrong with the two of you?" The Hood asked. "Don't you have faith in my drone's tracking capabilities?"

"Oh, but of course we do, boss. Of course we do," said Transom trying to sound sweet. "Your plan is so brilliant that it just can't fail."

The Hood gave her a very small smile but he didn't seem satisfied. He looked over at Mullion to hear his reaction. Mullion was trying not to notice as he was busy scooping up the remains of his baked beans.

"Well, Mullion?" The Hood asked. "Don't you want to give your opinion?"

Mullion wiped the beans away from his mouth and cleared his throat. "I've always got faith in you, boss," he said. "But I still think that one of us should have stayed to keep an eye on the drone's progress. I don't fully trust custom-made things."

The Hood's eyes narrowed. Suddenly they turned a sinister bright yellow colour and a mysteriously powerful pulse that threw Mullion backwards across the room. Two of the other henchmen who covered their heads in hoods had to jump out the way to avoid getting crushed as Mullion crashed into the wall. The Hood had got to his feet and advanced angrily towards Mullion, his eyes still glowing. "You dare question my constructive skills, Mullion?!" he thundered. "I spent hours getting the parts I needed from the various military contractors to build that drone. It has been tested to perfection and now it's going to lead us to International Rescue's base! You DARE DOUBT THAT IT IS NOT CAPABLE OF THAT! YOU ARE A DAMN FOOL, MULLION!"

Mullion was crying in pain from The Hood's hypnotic influence. But before he could say anything, The Hood's influence stopped. The Hood screwed up his eyes and rubbed them. Since the death of Kyrano, he'd lost the ability to fully control these powers that he'd once greatly treasured. Now all they did was cause him grief and pain which was why he no longer used them.

"Boss?" Transom asked bending down to help him. "Are you alright?"

"Alright?!" The Hood snapped shaking her off. "Do I look alright to you, Transom!" He rubbed his eyes again and stood up, smarting his suit. He then looked back down at Mullion and fixed him with a cold stare. "Don't ever doubt me, my equipment or my methods again, Mullion." With that he turned and walked sternly away. "Get the submarine ready," he ordered. "As soon as we've pinpointed the drone's exact location, we will depart and claim International Rescue's secret headquarters for our own. And somebody get me an aspirin."

* * *

Kerry tried again typing in the numbers in every way that she could think of. But every single time, the answer was negative.

"Kerry, my fuel situation is getting critical," Karolina said urgently. "If you're going to do something, you're going to have to do it soon."

"I'm working on it, Karolina," said Kerry annoyed. "Just hang on."

Daniel and the rest of the crew from Thunderbird 2 were now back on Tracy Island and were in the lounge with Jodie, Zoë, Cassidy, Sian and Joanne listening in to what was going on.

"Kerry, maybe you're doing it wrong," Daniel said. "What if perhaps it isn't numbers that are the answer?"

"What else would it be?" asked Kerry.

"I don't know," Daniel said. "Letters perhaps?"

Nobody seemed to understand what Daniel was on about, except for Jodie. "You might have a point there, Mr Tracy," she said. "Kerry, maybe the numbers are meant to represent a letter?"

"Of course!" Kaylee realised. "I remember doing something like that back in school. We used numbers to spell out letters of the alphabet to make secret codes."

Kerry looked at the numbers. "It's possible I suppose," she said. "And at this stage, I'm willing to give anything a try. Let's see. 8 is H, 1 is A, 5 is E and 4 is D.

"H-A-E-D?" said Katrina. "That's not a word."

"No," agreed Kerry. "But H-E-A-D is!" she said as she typed the letters into the boxes. "There, HEAD. Let's see if that works."

Several of the girls had their fingers crossed. Nobody spoke as Kerry pressed the button. But it wasn't to be.

"Damn it!" Kaylee, Kelly, Katrina and Becky all said together.

"Negative," Kerry sighed. "Sorry, guys. But I'm out of options."

"And there aren't any other words that fit those four letters," agreed Jodie.

Everyone hung their heads. Nobody could think of anything to say. In the end it was Beth who broke the silence. "I still think The Hood's behind this," she said. "Who else could it be?"

"Beth, please!" said Adrienne. "We've already told you that…"

"HOLD IT!" Kerry shouted. Everyone went quiet. Kerry looked at the word HEAD typed on the screen. Then she looked at the numbers. "Guys, what number is O in the alphabet?"

"Fifteen isn't it?" asked Katie.

Kerry looked at the numbers again. Then her face broke into a broad grin. "Gotcha!" she said triumphantly. "H-O-O-D – Hood!" She pressed the button.

BOOM! The drone exploded and crashed into the sea much to the amazement of Karolina and Laura.

"Kerry, you did it!" exclaimed Laura. "It's gone!"

A cheer erupted through the Tracy Island lounge.

"However did you work that out?" Daniel asked.

"Simple really," said Kerry, smiling. "When Beth mentioned The Hood, I noticed that it began and ended with the same letters as head does. Then I guessed that the reason why the numbers one and five both appeared twice was that they were actually the number fifteen. And as Katie said, the fifteenth number of the alphabet is O."

"The crafty bugger," Daniel said. "I hate to say it, but that is rather clever."

"Woah, hold on, Dad, you're not praising The Hood, are you?" asked Wizzy.

Daniel laughed. "Of course not, Wizzy," he said. "But to hide a kill-code like that is rather ingenious I must say. I'd never have thought of that."

Everyone had to admit that he was right. Even Jodie agreed that it was not something that she would have thought of.

* * *

Thunderbirds 1 and 7 soon returned to Tracy Island and Karolina and Laura joined the rest of the team in the lounge for the debriefing session.

"Maybe we should adopt that kind of technique?" suggested Laura. "But maybe do it in a code that nobody but us can understand."

"It's not a bad idea," said Jodie. "I'll get to work on that later today."

"That's already kind of what The Hood did though," Beth pointed out.

"We'd have to make it even harder than what he did," Katie said.

"Give it random pictures of fruit perhaps?" joked Leanna.

"It's almost a shame that the drone was destroyed," said Adrienne. "Now we'll never know where it came from."

"Actually, Adie, we can," said Kerry. "I managed to download a number of its files before if found that kill-code. There was a flight-path processor aboard which I've been able to decode with ease. You may find this hard to believe, but it originated from Papua New Guinea – about a mile from where you guys were working last night."

The stunned silence was broken by Wizzy. "So it _was_ The Hood who started the fire!" she said angrily. "He put all of those innocent villagers in danger just so we'd come out to save them and then so he could track us back to our base. Grrr – he makes my blood boil!"

"There's no proof that he actually started the fire," said Kerry. "I'd take a guess that one of those two minions of his were responsible. But he was certainly the one who would've masterminded the plan."

"One thing is for sure," said Daniel. "I doubt he'll be very happy when he finds out that he's lost his drone."

"That's if he hasn't found out already," chuckled Beth.

The others laughed in agreement. But Karolina was looking out of the window with a rather annoyed look on her face.

"You're awfully quiet, Karolina," Daniel said. "Something wrong?"

Karolina sighed and turned round. "I'm sorry everyone," she said. "I just feel so ashamed."

Everyone was puzzled.

"Of what?" asked Laura.

"That my uncle has caused us all a lot of trouble," Karolina said. "I make this promise to you all. He will pay for this and everyone else he has done!"

Daniel's eyes narrowed. "Easy, Karolina," he said. "We know how much you resent him after what he did to your father, but we are after justice don't forget, not revenge."

Karolina sighed again and hung her head. She nodded. "Yes, Mr Tracy," she said. "You are right."

Daniel nodded too. "Now then," he said. "Who wants a barbecue this evening?"

Everyone's faces lit-up. "YES!" they all exclaimed together.

"Never fails," Daniel chuckled.

* * *

Daniel's prediction was unsurprisingly correct. The Hood hadn't immediately gone back to his computer room to check on the drone's progress, nor had he asked anyone to go and have a look for him. He'd waited for his headache to clear up before entering the tracking room. As soon as he walked up to the screens, he saw straight away that there were no images being shown. Instead there was a message saying 'Contact Lost'. He knew immediately that could only mean one thing.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" The Hood screamed in disbelief.

Mullion and Transom had been busy getting their submarine ready for departure. "Boss, we're all ready to go," Mullion said into a radio. "Do we have a fix on the…"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The Hood's angry voice screamed through the speakers and echoed through the corridors. "CURSE YOU, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE!"

Mullion and Transom looked at each other. Both their skins went pale. They decided to hide inside the submarine as The Hood continued to scream.

* * *

FAB1 was driving along a narrow cliff road along Flamborough Head. It was almost dark as they approached the lighthouse towards the end of it. They soon stopped in a car park and Parker got out to let Penelope out. She then walked down towards the end of the Head and looked out across the sea. In the distance, she could just make out the dim lights from a passing ship.

Parker walked a few steps behind Penelope carrying a pair of binoculars. He passed them to Penelope who put them to her eyes. Looking out at the ship, she could now see it more clearly thanks to the night-vision mode built into the binoculars. On the bow, she could see the name _The Final Offer_ painted in large white letters. She then looked at her watch. It was exactly 21:00 hours.

"Right on time," Penelope said.

They returned to FAB1 and headed off back towards Creighton Manor leaving the ship to continue on its course towards the Thames.

"What's h'our next move, m'lady?" asked Parker. "I presume you're not going to be h'informing the h'authorities before 'e h'arrives in port?"

"No, Parker, I shall not," Penelope replied. "From what I've been told, the Cobblepots have a history of bribing. No doubt Oswald will probably have done that with some important people in the Port of London and beyond. We can't risk the possibility of the tables being turned upon us."

"Quite, m'lady," agreed Parker. "So what do we do?"

"We can't do anything for now, Parker," said Penelope. "We'll head home and get a good night's rest. The ship will be staying in Tilbury Docks until late tomorrow night. We'll have to wait until it's dark before we can do anything, but I can confirm that Operation Penguin is on!"


End file.
